Kenny Acheson

This Cookstown-born Northern Irishman made his Formula 3 debut in 1976 and worked his way into the cockpit of a Formula 1 racing car by 1983, but was unsuccessful in an inferior car.

After this episode, Acheson's involvement in the Group C Sports Car World Championship led to his involvement with Mercedes-Benz from October 1988, and in 1989, together with the Italian Mauro Baldi, he took the Sauber-Mercedes C 9 to victories at Brands Hatch and Spa-Francorchamps, four second places at the races at Suzuka, Le Mans, the Nürburgring and Donington Park, and a third place at Dijon.

He left the Sauber-Mercedes team at the end of the season and drove for Nissan, Jaguar and Toyota in subsequent years, scoring a podium finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 and 1992. He contested his last race in 1996 with the 24 Hours of Daytona, in which he had a serious accident but escaped uninjured.